What You Should See and Do in Baguio City this Time of Year!

Recto Hall Lawn, Teachers Camp.
Image from World Travel Server

Baguio is not just cool and romantic. It's full of adventures and mysteries and secrets. And yeah, don't forget about food. I remember once going there with two friends and staying in an old school building somewhere on Piko Road in La Trinidad.

What we did during nights was buy our dinner from town and then go back to our room to eat in the middle of an empty, dark and abandoned school campus. The cold wind blew hard, slowly pushing doors and windows in the classrooms around us, making ghostly creaking sounds.

Why didn't we just eat out? It was hard to get a ride home at night. So, instead of running the risk of being unable to go back to the school at night, we decided eat there. So, imagine being all alone there in the whole campus. It was exciting and mysterious.

To me, the best menus in the small-time town eateries are pinapaitan, sauteed sayote leaves, grilled porkchops and igado. But we didn't have them. What we had for dinner was sliced bread and corned beef in cans. Plus bottled water.

I tried this adventure a second time with my family and friends. Again, we stayed in an old building said to be haunted by ghosts. Nope, we didn't go there for ghost hunting. That was too dangerous, although I am experienced in prophetic spiritual warfare. We settled for the old building because the rent was cheap. And we had to keep our expenses within a tight budget.

Baguio City is full of old buildings that were built during the American occupation. Like the cabins and apartments in Teachers Camp, built in 1908 for Thomasite and American teachers, and Camp John Hay, completed by J. Franklin Bell in 1913. The mansions around Wright Park and Mansion House were mostly built in the 1920s or 1930s, probably earlier, and I'm sure they keep some secrets in them worth investigating.

Casa Vallejo was known as Dormitory 4 and served as lodging for the foremen who supervised the construction of Kenon Road. In 1923, it was leased to one named Salvador Vallejo who renovated it into a hotel. Now, that is one hotel I'd like to try the next time I visit Baguio City. I'm sure it has some mysterious secrets to reveal. It's somewhere along Session Road.

And PMA. It was set in Baguio City on September 1, 1908 on Constabulary Hill (formerly, it was in Manila). Now, the place is know as Camp Allen. The school was built in 1914. Later, in 1948, after the country won against the Japanese Imperial Army, PMA was transferred to its present site, Fort Del Pilar. The Philippine Military Academy is know as the oldest military school in Asia.

And of course, there's Brent School, Episcopalian, established in 1909 for Americans.

Yes, do visit the traditional tourists spots in Baguio City, but don't miss seeing the places above if you want to add adventure and mystery into your experience.